Ancients Made Anew
by Fields-of-Heather
Summary: They all thought that Project Predicon ended when Shockwave's lab was destroyed. No one told the Predicons that. Rated T to be safe.
1. Ancients Made Anew

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers and make no money from this. My characters, they belong to me so don't borrow them, at least without asking.

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Chapter 1 - Ancients Made Anew

The side of the mountain was quite, almost peaceful in a desolate, lifeless way. No trees grew there, nor shrubs or even a hardy wildflower. The only thing to grace it's gray, silent slopes was the passing shadow of a hawk. It was unchanging, having never known the touch of life, native or alien to this world.

Unlike the other side of the mountain, that had not so long ago seen much life. Blasted, mined and hollowed out, the other side had been silent witness to a battle and shaken by an explosion.

But on this side, only a few pebbles had trickled down the slope and nothing more.

That was until the vibrations started.

It was slight at first, so deep within that nothing on the surface even trembled. It got a little stronger, a little closer until a few pebbles shook and skittered down the face of the mountain. Then stones joined them, followed by rocks and finally boulders as the shaking grew. The great sheet of rock, as old as it's young planet, shook as something big, something determined dug it's way out.

Finally, a great section of the rock gave way, pushed out and down, falling in a thunderous roar to the valley below.

Silence reighned once more for a few moments as the rock settled, the mountain now sporting a cavernous hole in it's side.

Then something huge, something not seen on this world for millennia pulled itself from it's cold tomb. Great claws scrabbled for purchase on the disturbed slope, gouges cut into ancient stone as it moved away from the newly cut cave.

No sooner had it moved aside then more poured from the opening. Much smaller then the first, these four likewise scrambled for hand and foot holds, desperate to be out of the mountain that had nearly killed them.

Once settled on it's surface, the five, as one breathed deep of the chill air. Lifting it's massive head, the greatest among them opened it's jaws and let fly a roar that shook the sky. It's fellows joined in, adding their voices until the very mountain and valley below vibrated with sound.

Having proclaimed the conquering of the mountain that had tried to entomb them, the largest turned a critical eye to it's brethren. Two fliers, counting itself, and three ground bound. Some deep seated knowledge urged it to move on, to find someplace safe for itself and it's kin.

After several minutes of snarls, growls and grunts, a language all their own, a plan was made. One of the grounders climbed on the back of the smaller flier. Another draped itself around the neck of their leader. The last, lacking any means of holding on, instead was scooped up in the claws of the largest. At an unspoken cue, both fliers took to the air, seemingly unburdened by their loads. Turning from the mountain, they flew swiftly away and into a world ill prepared for the likes of them, ancients made anew.

And the mountain was silent again.

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Note: I would really like some feedback on this. It's my first Prime story and want to know if anyone would like to see more. So drop a note or just a follow and let me know.


	2. Not Natural

Disclaimer: Same as in first chapter.

Quick Note: Thank you to those who left reviews and hit follow. This is for you.

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Chapter Two - Not Natural

A trio of Eradicons flew in perfect formation over the mountain. After the recent battle at Shockwave's off-site lab, a patrol had been ordered to check the surrounding area. Not that they worried about the Autobots returning, but to check for curious humans. The blast might have attracted unwanted attention from the natives and they didn't need any of the squishy little insects getting under ped.

Moving swiftly and smoothly, the team of fliers made a loop around the far side of the mountain. While this section was far from any roadways, it was not uncommon for humans to hike into the wilds and, for some foolish reason, climb mountains. For a species that couldn't fly, grip well without assistance and was so easily hurt, they did so enjoy climbing large things they could fall off of.

Everything appeared well, no signs of natives, until the wing leader's system pinged a warning. The Eradicon's topography program had picked up an anomaly on the side of the mountain. A quick databurst to his wingmates notified them of the issue before he slowed, turning towards the section of rock that didn't match the last scan of the region.

Quickly spotting the anomaly, the wing leader inwardly cursed before hailing his commander.

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"It would seem that the Autobots were not as... thorough as we had hoped they would be."

Moving to the main monitor on the warship's bridge, Starscream tapped a few commands. Up came images of the mountainside, clearly showing the opening cut into it.

Turning, he waited as the rest of the Command staff took in the images. Megatron stared at the screen, optics glaring as if the monitor had personally offended him. KnockOut appeared bored, as usual. Shockwave and Soundwave stood silent, their lack of faces giving no clue as to their thoughts.

Starscream kept his faceplates blank, unsure how this news would be received and weather or not it might work against him. While it had been his plan to destroy all of the Predicons that apparently failed, it was Shockwave's lab and the scientist should have realized that not all of his pets had been terminated.

It was surprisingly KnockOut who spoke first, "Could it be natural? An effect of the explosion?"

"No." Shockwave shook his head, "The rock the mountain is comprised of does not lend itself to creating caves naturally."

"Also, there is this." With a few taps of the controls, Starscream brought up several more images, close-ups of the cave mouth and surrounding rock. "I have identified four, possibly five sets of tracks around the opening. Two different sizes of claw, two with rounded ped patterns and what apears to be a slid mark, as if something was dragged across the ground."

A deep rumble made itself known as Megatron stepped closer to the screen, optics narrowed. Starscream inwardly wondered if now would be a good time to start groveling.

"It appears that..." Starscream prepared to hit the floor and beg for his life, " the Autobots can not be depended on to do a decent job." Starscream nearly vented a sigh, apparently he wasn't going to be blamed this time. Turning from the screen, Megatron snarled, "Starscream."

Oh scrap he was dead!

"Send out your armada, have them scan for any signs of these runaway beasts."

Venting, Starscream nearly snapped to attention, "Of course my Liege."

Still growling, Megatron turned towards the rest of his Command staff, "Soundwave, monitor the humans communications, if the Predicons are spotted you will undoubtedly find evidence of them." Soundwave nodded, "Shockwave, return to you lab. Make sure no other ... loose ends... have been left behind. Take KnockOut with you."

"At once my Lord." Shockwave nodded as well before turning to leave.

"And Shockwave..." Megatron's voice stopped his science officer, "Keep our resident Predicon busy. We wouldn't want his majesty to find out some of his subjects are alive."

"Yes, Lord Megatron." Shockwave bowed before moving swiftly away.

Taking this as his opportunity, Starscream slipped away to gather his troops. They would need to start the search as soon as possible. Every klick wasted meant the beasts were getting farther away. Moving swiftly towards the hanger, Starscream mused that Project Predicon, much like it's subjects, refused to stay dead.

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Let me know what you think, want more?


	3. Late to the Party

Disclaimer: Same as in chapter one

:speech: is comm talk

[speech] is Bumblebee talk

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Chapter 3 - Late to the Party

:All right troops, listen up!: Ultra Magnus' bark cut threw the comm lines. :We hit fast and hard, no mistakes. At Arcee's signal we move.:

Five affirmative pings answered him, as Team Prime moved into position. The mission was simple, the Earth bound Autobots were extremely low on energon. The mine just over the ridge was small, guarded lightly and far enough from human settlements to keep native casualties to zero. They were to go in, neutralize the enemy miners and guards, gather whatever energon they could find and make haste out of there.

Both Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime had not been happy with the plan, but as Ratchet had informed them, they had only enough fuel for two weeks. If they engaged in combat, reduce that to a week's worth. So since they didn't have the means to dig for and secure their own mines, that meant "procuring" some from the Decepticons.

Hence, the raiding party he was leading.

Magnus had taken center position. Bumblebee and Smokescreen were to his left, Bulkhead and Wheeljack to his right. Arcee had disappeared over the ridge a few klicks before, making sure everything was clear before they moved. While Bumblebee was a more natural choice as the teams scout, the satellite images of the area had revealed that the slope adjacent to the mine was sparse in cover. Hence it made more sense to send Arcee over, her smaller size giving her a better chance at being unseen.

Besides, though Bumblebee was young, he showed great maturity and had a knack for keeping Smokescreen in line... most of the time.

Optimus would have lead the mission, had wanted to but for Magnus' arguing that the Prime was too important to be going out on a relatively minor mission such as a supply run. Ratchet had backed him up with the news that Optimus had a request from the Joint Chiefs for a conference call and Agent Fowler was getting migraines from struggling for excuses to put the meeting off any longer. Reluctantly, Prime backed down and wished Magnus well.

Truth be told, Ultra Magnus was still a bit shell-shocked over the knowledge that Prime had nearly died and was tired of his self sacrificing leader always throwing himself in harms way. While he might not be able to protect his Prime all the time, he could make sure that Optimus stayed on base occasionally.

A crackle over his comm brought Magnus out of his musing, :Ultra Magnus, sir. You need to see this.:

Raising his good fist, the rest of the team tensed, :Arcee, report.:

A long pause before, :Sir.. It looks like someone else had the same idea as us.:

Inwardly cursing, Ultra Magnus gave the signal to move. As one, the team climbed the last few feet to the top of the ridge, weapons hot. What greeted them was surprising. Below them, Arcee stood at the ready, blasters armed and surrounded by offlined Eradicons.

"What the slag?" gasped Smokescreen as he slid the last few feet to the level ground.

"My sentiment exactly." said Arcee as she moved to flank her approaching commander, letting Ultra Magnus get a good look at the graying frame at her peds.

Taking it in at a glance, Magnus snapped, "Keep you guard up, whoever did this might still be here. Wheeljack, Bulkhead, check the tunnel. Bumblebee, Smokescreen, the perimeter. Arcee, with me."

Silently, they moved out, watching each other and for trouble. Stepping up to the closest body, Ultra Magnus crouched down and flipped it onto it's back, "By the AllSpark."

The Eradicon had been torn open, it's chest plate a mangled series of metal strips. Energon dripped lazily to join the puddle of fluids and internals already on the ground. Standing, Magnus called out, "Arcee, what have you got."

"More of the same." she called back, crouched over another frame, "Torn apart by.. something. Whatever happened here was fast." Standing she pointed towards two frames, those closest to the mine entrance, "Those two are the only ones with their weapons drawn, the other four were taken out before they knew what hit them."

"Hmmm." Magnus grumbled.

[Magnus sir.] Bumblebee chirped as he and Smokescreen returned, [Perimeter secure. We found a stockpile of energon cubes waiting for pick up. No more bodies and no tracks around the cubes. Whatever was here never went near them.]

"Curious." Magnus said, moving towards the mine entrance. He was met by a returning Wheeljack.

"Commander, you need to see this!"

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"Holy Primus."

Smokescreen's utterance reflected the feelings of everyone else present. Those inside the mine had not fared any better then those outside. Over a dozen miners and several more guards lay scattered across the main chamber of the mine. All of them very much dead.

"We swept the place, not a spark to be found." rumbled Bulkhead, "Whatever hit this place was brutal."

Stepping over a graying miner, Arcee noted his damage, "More claw marks, like those outside."

"Yeah, but that's not all." said Wheeljack before pointing to several frames near one of the drills, "Those were smashed, major blunt force trauma. And this one, " He kicked the one at his peds, the frame not moving even with the force of the blow, "He's melted to the floor. Takes something super hot to melt Decepticon armor."

"Woah!" Smokescreen shouted, jumping back from yet another body, this one oozing a greenish blue liquid.

"Watch out for that one." Wheeljack called out, "Looks like he was shoot full of acid. Melting him from the inside out. Lousy way to offline."

[That's not all.] chirped Bee.

"Is that not enough?" asked Arcee before moving to were Bee was standing.

[This one was crushed, squeezed from all sides and those,] Bumblebee pointed to two frames slumped near several empty cubes, small wisps of smoke rising from their seems and the scent of burnt wiring in the air, [They show signs of electrical discharge, enough to fry them offline.]

"All right." Magnus called everyone's attention back to him, "We still have a mission to complete. Arcee, contact Ratchet to open a Groundbridge. Wheeljack, outside. Keep an optic open in case whatever did this returns. Everyone else, gather the energon and prepare to move out."

"Commander, one last thing." Bulkhead called out, moving towards the back of the cavern. Following, Magnus stepped up beside Bulkhead when he stopped near some raw energon crystals.

Or rather, what used to be some crystals. Only their bases remained, broken off near the ground. "Whoever hit this place didn't want the cubed energon." Pointing to a nearby crystal, Bulkhead continued, "The Cons cut the crystal." He was right, the crystal had been smoothly cut from it's base. "This was ripped out of the ground." He pointed back to the ones before them. Now that he looked closer, Ultra Magnus could see gouges in the rock floor and small shards of crystal on the ground. It had been quickly and violently removed along with many more around it.

Nodding, Magnus turned back to the rest of the team, "All right, we need to get back to base and inform Optimus. Let's move like we have a purpose, soldiers."

Quickly gathering what they came for, Team Prime moved towards the exit and the waiting groundbridge.

"For once," Smokescreen said as he carried an arm load of cubes into the glowing portal, "I'm glad I was late for the party."

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Longest one yet, hope I did the characters justice. And yes, I'm trying to be vague as to what the Predicons look like. Feel free to guess and let me know what you think. Next chapter might not be until this weekend, but hopefully I'll have two or three ready to post.

WingedWolfAlari - nice guess, your close.

knight of the Io - I wasn't going to include Sky Lynx but you've given me an idea. Something to ponder.

Reviews and follows make me giddy and fuel my urge to write.


	4. Feast

Disclaimer: Still the same as the first chapter

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Chapter Four - Feast

"It would appear that some of the Predacons have survived," Optimus Prime's deep rumble filled the hanger, "And it seems they have gone rogue."

"That was my assessment as well." nodded Ultra Magnus. They had returned with enough energon to keep them well fueled for at least six months, a year if they rationed. While their energon situation was much improved and Ratchet was pleased that he didn't need to repair anyone, the news of the mines condition was met with shock and worry.

"Great! Something else we have to worry about!" snarled Ratchet, throwing his arms in the air. "As if Decepticons, our energon supply, our lack of decent equipment and spare parts, this shack we call a base and keeping Miko out of trouble wasn't enough."

"Hey!" came a small shout from around Bulkhead's ankle.

"And let's not forget we haven't seen plate nor antenna of the Insecticons for some time. Who knows what they're up to." Ratchet added, ignoring the tiny female glaring at him.

"Calm yourself Ratchet." Optimus said, hopeing to soothe his volatile CMO.

Ratchet snorted, "Easy for you to say. Let's see how calm you are when a Predacon chews on your leg and I don't have the parts to replace it! You'll be stomping around here like one of those pirates on TV with an I beam for a wooden leg. Calm myself."

Deciding it was best to let the fuming medic grumble to himself, Optimus turned back to his gathered troops. "Suggestions on how to handle this situation."

Bulkhead spoke up, "I say leave them be. If they keep hitting energon mines like they did that one, they'll wipe out the whole Con army for us."

Arcee chimed in, "Not a good idea. What if they change their minds and return to the Cons. We can't let something that powerful ally themselves with the other side."

"Don't forget." perched on one of the catwalks along the wall, Jack drew everyone's attention, "Those things are wild animals. Animals that have just been dropped into a world they have no clue about. How long will it take before they come across humans?"

"Wonderful, more pictures for me to hunt down." sighed Raf from his spot near Ratchet's medical corner, head buried in his computer but listening to everything said.

"Not just that." continued Jack, clearly worried, "What if some idiot shoots at one of them and pisses it off?"

"Beasts on a rampage!" chimed in Miko, sounding just a bit too excited, "Jurassic Park Robo-style!"

Wheeljack groaned, "I dealt with rampaging Dynobots once, I'm not helping with runamuck Predacons."

Miko looked up at Bulkhead who stage whispered, "I'll tell you about it later."

"It seems that our options are limited." Optimus drew everyones attention back to him, "The Predacons can not be allowed to roam free. They pose a risk not just to us but to all life on this planet."

[So, what's our orders?] beeped Bumblebee

"Rafael will monitor the Web for signs of the Predacons." Optimus nodded to the boy, who just waved and went back to tapping away, "Ratchet will contact Agent Fowler to inform him of the situation."

"Fowler's gonna have a field day with this one." Bulkhead chuckled, "How do you explain to the military brass that a bunch of mythological metal monsters are loose somewhere in the country?"

Optimus continued, "And the rest of us will monitor as many of the Decepticon dig sites as possible. These creatures will surely raid another one once their supply of crystals runs out."

"Great, hiding outside Con mines hopeing one of these monsters shows up, sounds like fun." grumbled Smokescreen as the meeting broke up and everyone moved off to ready themselves, "My luck I'll run into the one that spits acid and get my bumper melted off."

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Not that far from the emptied mine, at least by Cybertronian measures of distance, the Prediaons feasted. Surrounded by tall trees, the rocky clearing they had found wasn't much but it had cover and afforded them some privacy.

For the first time in their short lives, the air was filled with happy grunts and clicks. The raw crystals were stomped and smashed into small chunks, just the right size to swallow. Quickly they gorged themselves, instinct telling them that if they didn't eat fast something might take their fuel away. Not that they would steal from each other. They were kin, a clan and that meant watching out for and fueling each other. But instincts were strong and deeply rooted. One never knew when something bigger, stronger might try to take what was yours.

Not that they had encountered anything stronger then themselves yet. Those strange creatures that all shared the same face had not stood a chance. They had learned quickly that what a Predacon clan wants, they take.

Sprawled out at one end of the clearing, their leader rumbled contently, one of the largest crystals clasped in his claws. Snapping off another piece of energon, he enjoyed the feel of a nearly full tank, specially designed to brake down raw fuel. They had done well, his kin. They had worked smoothly, removing all resistance with a speed that made him proud. Only a few scratches had been left on their plating from the pitiful creatures they had killed. As if such puny things could harm a Predacon.

Extra crystals were tucked away, hidden under some logs and rocks as tanks filled. More sounds of contentment filled the evening air as the Predacons yawned and stretched. This had been a busy day and the next promised to be busy as well. While they had enough fuel for several days, their new home was lacking in comforts. They would have to fix that soon.

Settling down, their leader vented a large sigh, sending a cloud of dust up as recharge tugged at his mind. Just as he felt himself slipping away, something nudged the back edge of his wing. He growled as that something wiggled it's way under the flexible metal membrane and curled against his side. Lifting his wing slightly, he caught sight of one of the grounders, a bundle of white and blue plating, snuggling against his side.

Lifting his massive head, he looked to the other end of the clearing, to see if any others dared to cuddle their leader. He instead found the other flier in a similar situation. The other two grounders were pressed to it's sides, wings draped over them and all three already in recharge.

With a grumble, he settled his head back on his claws and let his companion be. After all, they had already been threw so much all ready, he could not begrudge them a little comfort.

For tonight at least.

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Notes: Aww, even big bad Preds need a cuddle now and then. Just writing that scene made me all warm and fuzzy.

My thanks to those who reviewed, your support makes me want to write more. I wish I had more to give this week, but real life handed me a aft load of extra hours (people on vacation) and this was all I could manage. Next weekend doesn't look much better, but I hope to have at least one more chapter up then. After that I hope to be back to two or three each weekend.


	5. Smile for the Camera

Disclaimer: Same as first chapter.

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Chapter 5 - Smile for the Camera

It had been a good plan.

"Had" being the important word.

They needed to keep Predaking busy. He couldn't go down to the off-site lab, not until they were sure no other survivors were left and because they didn't want to remind him of his lost brethren. The big beast was already an emotional mess, making him clean up the remains of his kin might send him off the deep end.

He couldn't be anywhere near the bridge, not while they were searching for the renegade Predacons. He might overhear something and then how would they explain that?

So it was decided that KnockOut would include Predaking in the daily energon pick-ups. Easy, simple and would keep the big brute away from anything that would remind him of his lost army.

Well, that was the plan.

It all went well for the first twelve pick-ups. Quotas had been met or exceeded. The cubes were quickly and smoothly taken on board and moved to storage. Then came pick-up number thirteen.

Maybe the humans were onto something when it came to that number.

The groundbridge opened in the main cargo hold, but nothing came threw. "Scrap." snarled KnockOut, "There's always one."

Stomping over to the glowing portal, he waved to Predaking, "Come on, maybe you can scare the moron's into remembering their pick-up time." An irritated grown was his only response as he walked threw the groundbridge...

...and into a great big mess.

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:KnockOut to Megatron:

With a growl, Megatron straightened from where he'd been leaning over Soundwave's shoulder, checking on his Communication Officer's progress,

:What is it KnockOut?:

:Sir, we have a... situation. While overseeing the daily delivery of energon, Mine R-34 missed their pick-up.:

:So.: snarled Megatron. If that damn medic was calling him because some Eradicon got lazy...

:My Liege, I'm here at Mine R-34 and... everyone's dead.:

:WHAT?:

KnockOut hesitated a moment, :It appears that our missing Predacons got hungry. But that's not the worst of it. Predaking followed me to the mine and well... he's understandably confused about this.:

Megatron's low snarl made KnockOut's struts shiver, :Tell me you haven't told him what you know.:

:Of course not! I took a page out of Starscream's playbook and plead ignorance.: KnockOut assured, :But.. someone might want to come up with a plausible explanation and soon. Before his highness starts drawing some dangerous conclusions.:

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"By Uncle Sam's dirty gym socks! What the hell is going on?"

Turning from the monitor, Ratchet sighed, "Agent Fowler, always a pleasure. Did you remember to take your blood pressure medication today?"

"Don't start with me Doc-Bot, I've got the President and the Joint Chiefs on hold. The heads of the FBI, CIA, NSA and Homeland Security bugging me and, as if that wasn't enough, that burrito I had for lunch if burning it's way threw my chest." snarled Fowler, as he stomped along the catwalk towards the only Bot currently in residence, "At this rate I'll have the producers of Ancient Aliens calling for comment."

"Or the National Enquirer." chimed in Raf from his spot on a crate near Ratchet, laptop now seemingly a part of his body.

Fowler groaned at the thought of fielding "that" call, "So, now that you know what I've been going threw since you dropped that bomb on me yesterday, what's the current situation on this end?"

"Not much to report." said Ratchet, keeping a straight face while inwardly chuckling at the agents grousing, "Our team is spread out, monitoring known energon mines for when the creatures return. Other then that, we have no other leads."

"Now we do!" shouted Raf, jumping up from his seat. "I've got a sighting!"

"Where?" Fowler called out as he made his way to the stairs leading to the level Raf was at.

"A junk yard in northern Virginia. Someone just posted a picture."

"Raf..." Ratchet started but was quickly cut off.

"I'm on it." With a few quick key strokes the image was copied to their system and the picture replaced with a cartoon alien doing the Electric Slide. The image appeared on the main monitor, "Done!"

"Damn." Fowler gasped as he and Ratchet took in the scene. It wasn't a very good shot, the image was a little blurry and the sun was directly behind the creature, giving them an outline but no detail. Still there was no doubt, this was one of the missing Predacons.

It was big, no doubt about that. It was standing on top of what looked like an old VW bus perched on top of other scraped cars. "Quadruped," Ratchet rattled off, "Flight capable."

"And mean from the looks of it." added Raf. The beast had it's wings spread out above it, head turned to face the person taking the photo. While the shadows prevented them from seeing it's face clearly, their was no doubt from those piercing red eyes that it was not happy. It was hunched in such a way that it looked about to pounce, a long thin tail arched high behind it.

"Is it just me, or does that look like a griffin?" asked Fowler.

"A what?" snapped Ratchet, still staring at the screen.

"Griffin, a mythological beast said to be half lion and half eagle." rattled off Raf as he dove back into the web, searching for any more pictures of the beast.

"Right." said Ratchet, "Agent Fowler, I suggest evacuating the area and finding that witness. We need to know what that Predacon was after."

"On it. Raf, get me that location asap," Raf nodded, not ever looking up, "Meanwhile, I'm gonna start making calls. You better get on the line to Prime, let him know what's happening."

Watching Fowler walk away, cellphone already in hand, Ratchet signed, "First a Decepticon mine, now a human junkyard. What's next? Napping on the White House lawn?"

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Note: I don't like ending there, feels awkward but I couldn't find a better spot to stop. Please leave a review or just hit follow, so I know you like it.

Thank you to those who reviewed and hit follow. Your support means a lot to me!


	6. Scrap

Disclaimer: Same as first chapter

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Chapter 6 - Scrap

"Lord Megatron!"

The bellow was just shy of sounding insubordinate. Striding from the glowing groundbridge, Predaking dragged behind him the empty shell of an Eradicon. KnockOut quickly brought up the rear, moving to the side as soon as possible. He wanted a good view of the fireworks but not so close as to get burned.

Throwing the grayed corpse to the ground before him, Predaking pinned his leader with an angry and confused glare, "What is the meaning of this, my Lord?" Growling, he kicked the body, rolling it over so that it's mangled chest was visible to all, "If I didn't know better, I would say this had been done with my own claws. No Autobot I have ever seen can do this." He gestured to the shredded metal and torn internals that still seeped pale blue energon. "So please tell me, how is this possible?"

"Predaking," Megatron's voice oozed pain and shock, "I am as disturbed by this as you are. I have no explanation for this.."

"My Liege, I do." Shockwave's voice chimed in from the Comm station.

"Shockwave, report."

"I have just finished the examination of my lab and have discovered something disturbing." Shockwave paused, "It appears that several cloning tanks are missing."

"Missing?" growled Predaking.

"Yes. Five to be exact. I theorize that during the confusion, the Autobots stole the tanks and their Predacon occupants."

"But why?" snarled Predaking. "Why steal some of them and kill the rest?"

Starscream jumped in, "That is what those vile vermin do. If the Autobots want something, they take it and if they can't have it... no one can."

Standing off to the side, KnockOut was very much enjoying the show. It was amazing what the Command staff could put together in just a few spare minutes.

"Those retched Autobots must have reprogrammed the Predacons to serve them. They had them attack the mine so they could steal our energon without having to fight us themselves." Starscream's faceplates might have shown shock and anger, but KnockOut knew that inside, the Air Commander was crowing with glee.

Predaking seethed, clenching his fists, "This can not be allowed. I will not see my brethren, my solders being used by those murderers!"

"Of course not." Megatron's growl was nearly a purr, meant to reassure the volatile beast, "This... travesty.. will not go unpunished. I already have Soundwave monitoring the human's communications for news and Starscream has sent word to his Seekers. They are readying themselves as we speak." Megatron stepped up to the Predacon, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder-guard, "I assure you, the moment we have any word of their location, we will inform you. All attempts to return them to you, whole and free of the Autobot's control will be made"

"Thank you my Liege," Predaking bowed his head for a moment before looking into his leader's optics, "And if they can not be saved..." Lifting his hand before him, Predaking flexed his deadly claws, "... I will end them... myself."

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Somewhere in Virgina...

"Scrap!"

Looking up from where he'd been examining the roof of a human vehicle, called a mini bus, Optimus Prime turned to the human striding towards him, "Is something the matter, Agent Fowler?"

"No." said the agent, dodging what appeared to be the fender of a Hummer, "Scrap. That's what it took. A couple tons of scrap metal." Stopping a good distance from the Prime's peds, so as to minimize neck strain, Fowler continued, "I've got a couple of agents sitting on the two witnesses right now. They claim the thing dropped out of the sky, screeched at them and after they ran, grabbed up a couple claw-fulls of scrap metal and took off."

"Hmmm." Prime hummed to himself. Looking again at the vehicle's roof, he lifted his hand to lay on top of the gouges cut into the metal.. He could just fit his spread digits inside the markings. From the space between the four "footprints", he estimated the creature to be almost as long as he himself was tall.

"And that's not all." Fowler shouted, returning Optimus' attention to him, "I just got reports of two more thefts of scrap metal. One in West Virginia and another in Western Maryland. No eyewitnesses this time but from what was reported by the owner in Maryland, the thing must have flew in like this one and made off with about twice as much metal. The other Pred came in on foot, tore threw a cinder block wall like it was tissue paper and made off with about as much as this one."

"The Predacons, beasts though they may be, are not unintelligent." Optimus turned away from the wreck to fully face his human ally, "They need this raw material for something. For what, I have no idea."

"So what now? Stake out every scrapyard in a tri-state area? I don't even want to think about how many there are." grumbled Fowler.

"No." Optimus shook his head, "There is no telling if the Predacons will require more material or if they have taken enough for whatever their purpose. My troops will stay on guard near the energon mines. Eventually, the Predacons will have to gather more fuel and the mines are our best chance of catching them."

. . . . . . . . . .

The sound of screeching metal in it's death throws filled the air, sending several deer and not a few birds fleeing for their lives. In the clearing claimed by the Predacon clan, the stolen scrap was torn apart by claw, fang and beak. With swift, sure movements it was twisted into new shapes, formed into something of use. What at first looked like a jumble of junk soon took on a shape not only beautiful but almost artistic.

After several hours, the "small" flier stepped back from it's creation. Turning it's bird-like head back and forth, it eyed the structure critically. A tweak here and twist of metal there and it was done. Leaping into the air, it landed inside it's creation. Turning about, it tested it for strength and comfort before deeming it perfect. With a happy chirp, the Griffin Predacon settled into it's new nest.

Peering over the edge of it's nest, the Griffin watched as it's kin finished their own projects. Their leader's nest was much larger, but rougher in design. He had not the patience nor desire to make his nest anything more them comfortable. The grounders had fashioned what humans might call a tent from their metal. The structure would give them shelter from the weather while allowing them to sleep close to each other.

Content in the knowledge that it's kin were happy and safe, the Griffin relaxed into it's nest, tucked it's beak under a wing and drifted into recharge.

. . . . . . . . . .

Note: Awww, another sweet scene with the Preds, but conflict is coming. So they better enjoy the peace while they can.

My apologies for missing some grammar and misspells in the last chapter and for any from now on. I do my best to catch them but the last chapter was written in haste and some got by.

The Anonymous Forgot my name: Arcee's roll will start to take shape soon.

GKoh: I don't want to give too much away, but two of the Preds do have ties to existing characters. The other three are completely my own. I was disappointed in the variety of Predacon characters. They are mostly dragon and Griffin type beasts, ignoring the vast universe of mythical creatures. So I picked a couple monsters that I liked and used them to model my creations. They also will start appearing soon.


	7. Close Encounter

Disclaimer: Still the same as the first chapter.

. . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 7: Close Encounter

Three days.

Three, stinking, lousy, boring days.

That's how long they had been monitoring the Decepticon mines. With the thefts of scrap metal, Ratchet and Raf had narrowed down the likly area the Predacons were hiding out in. The rest of Team Prime had been redeployed to the closest mines around the target area.

And they waited... and waited... and waited.

Smokescreen was about ready to bang his helm against a tree just to see how hard he could do it and not knock himself out. He wasn't made for this kind of stuff. He was a mech of action. He'd take a couple of pissed off Insecticons over this waiting slag any day.

The only bright spot had come a day after they had started their watches when the Con's had beefed up their security. About a dozen more guards had been added to each mine site. Seems that Buckethead had discovered that his mines weren't just threatened by the Autobots anymore.

But since then... nothing but boredom.

Leaning back against a large oak tree, Smokescreen tried to get comfortable. He didn't see a need to stay within optic view of the mine. If the Preds showed up he'd be able to hear that battle a mile away. So he stretched and shifted, finding a not so bad spot and relaxed. Feeling recharge tug at his processor, Smokescreen let his head drop to his chestplate. A short nap was no big deal, besides he could hear a squrril drop an acorn at a hundred yards. If the Preds stopped by, he'd be up and ready in an instant.

. . . . . . . . . .

:Arcee, report.:

Stretched out on her front, she sighed, :Arcee here, Ratchet. Nothing to report. No signs of Predacons.:

:Understood, Ratchet out.:

Grumbling quietly to herself, Arcee resisted the urge to move. Her legs were starting to stiffen and there was a rock underneath her that kept poking her between her abdominal plates. She'd taken up a position along a ridge near her assigned mine. She hadn't moved from her spot in so long, she wondered if she might just become fused to the ground.

Nothing much had happened in the three days she'd been there. Guards walked one way, then another. Miners brought out energon cubes and once everyday a groundbridge pick-up was made. How the Cons did this day after day without going insane was a mystery to her.

Arcee never thought of herself as "battle eager" like some of the other Autobots she had served with. She'd known some frontliners that if they they didn't see action every other orn, they would start going stir crazy. They couldn't handle quite down-time and often ended up starting fights or playing pranks. She on the other hand had no problem with down-time and eagerly embraced a little boredom now and again, thank you very much.

But this was getting to be a little much. At this point she'd take a passing bird crapping on a guard's helm to liven things up a little. At least she could silently laugh while the other Eradicons teased their comrade.

So caught up in her musing, Arcee almost missed the small sound. Stiffening, she turned up her adios. Again she heard it, a slight scratching, like something was moving slowly across the rock. A click of small stones, a shuffle of dirt, no more that ten yards to her right.

She wasn't alone anymore.

"Frag it." she thought to herself. So much for boredom.

Keeping perfectly still, she continued to listen, processing what could be so close to her on this sparsely wooded hillside. Definitely not organic. The soft, but distinct sound of rock scratching metal meant that her guest was either Con or Pred, and since the Cons had no reason to sneak up on their own mine that meant she was just a few dozen feet away from a Predacon.

"Finally." she grumbled silently to herself. Moving with exaggerated slowness, Arcee backed away from the edge. Once far enough away so as not to alert the Cons below, she pushed herself off the ground and into a low crouch. Putting all of her stealth training to good use, she moved slowly and silently along the ridge. It was dotted by small conifer trees and some sizable boulders. Not as much cover as she would have liked, but better then nothing.

Pausing, she listened. No more movement but she could make out the heavy ventilations of something large just a few more feet away. In front of her, the ridge dipped downward, creating a dent in the hillside. Whatever was here was in that gully.

Her Special Ops instructor would have been very proud as she nearly slithered across the rock to peak over the edge. What she found below her nearly made her gasp.

Either Shockwave was a secret art major or Predacons were naturally magnificent.

The beast was stunning in a deadly sort of way. Longer then Ultra Magnus was tall, it crouched near the edge of the ridge, watching the mine like she had done just minutes before. It's bird-like head reminded her of an eagle, large beak curved for grasping. It sported gold metallic feathers from it's head to it's shoulders. It's wings were also colored gold but the rest of it's body was a glossy black. A long, thin tall was tipped with a round, club-like ball of gold. It's four legs were powerfully built and it's large paws sported several long, wicked looking golden claws.

Struck speechless, even inside her own mind, Arcee could only stare at what had to be one of Primus' most beautiful creations.

Then a bird in one of the nearby pines took flight, right over her position.

The sudden noise startled the Predacon and it turned it's head...

Blood ruby optics locked with blight blue.

"Scrap."

. . . . . . . . . .

Notes: *ducks behind Bulkhead* Yes I choose to stop there, please don't hate me.

SlipKnotGhidorah: I'm glad someone else feels the same way I do about the lack of variety in the Predacons.

The Anonymous Forgot my name: I think of Predaking like this. He was made by Shockwave, so Shockie is like his creator/father. Daddy Shockwave trusts and is loyal to Megatron, so Predaking follows his example and trusts Megatron too. Poor beastie.


	8. Hang On

Disclaimer: Still the same as the first chapter.

Warnings: Much Cursing Ahead.

. . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 8 : Hang On!

"So finally, Sludge collapses from exhaustion... right on top of one of the transports. Thank Primus the thing wasn't sentient or we'd all have had so many reports to fill out we could have choked Unicron with them."

Leaning against the biggest tree trunk he could find, Bulkhead smiled at the mental image of the largest Dynobot, in beast form, draped over the crushed remains of the transport and clicking like a sparkling in recharge.

"With Grimlock sedated and Snarl getting bored and going back to his room, we thought we were getting a handle on things. Then we hear this line freezing scream and the floor starts shaking. Down the corridor comes Slug, in a full on charge, with Wheeljack sitting on the front of his head."

His comm line filled with feminine giggles. He might have been stuck on stake-out duty, but that didn't mean Bulkhead couldn't regale Miko with some of Wheeljack's most embarrassing moments.

"So there's Jackie, screaming his head off, hanging onto Slug's horns for dear life as they go by, heading straight for the hanger door. Only problem was the door was down. Not that Slug cared, he charged right threw the thing."

"Oh my God." Miko gasped out. Bulkhead could picture her back at base, bent over double from laughing.

"Slug winds up charging around the outside of our base for another two hours, smashing all sorts of stuff with Jackie still hanging on. At one point I hollered at him to jump clear but he said and I quote... I'm safer between the horns then in front of them." Wheeljack was going to have his plating for sharing this story, but it was worth it. "And during this whole thing, Swoop was sitting in the rafters of the hanger, laughing his aft off at us. Finally, Slug's energon reserve ran low and he dropped into recharge in mid-gallop, slid across the ground and was snoring before he came to a stop." Just the memory of Wheeljack staggering away from the sleeping Dynobot, legs wobbling like a sparkling learning to walk made Bulkhead smile warmly.

"It wasn't long before Ultra Magnus was transferred in as Base Commander. One of the first things he did was transfer Grimlock and his team to a different base with the recommendation that us Wreckers and the Dynobots should only be brought together in the middle of a Decepticon base from now on."

The sounds of Miko's giggles made knowing he'd get his aft handed to him later by Ultra Magnus for not "maintaining vigilance" so worth it. "If you liked that one, you'll love this story. I call it, How Wheeljack lost an arm and gained a reputation. It started during a skirmish near the Hydrax Plateau..."

An angry bellow silenced Bulkhead just before a boulder the size of a Smart car sailed threw the trees in front of him, aimed right for his head.

Only his reflexes saved his processor from being smashed into the tree behind him. The boulder crashed into his hastily raised arm, breaking in two and leaving a nasty dent behind. "What the Pit?"

Lurching to his feet, Bulkhead could just make out something in the shadowed forest. It was big, bipedal and pissed.

"Uh Miko, I'll have to finish that story later."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Scrap!"

One second the griffin was starring at her, surprise plainly written on it's features, then it was on her, sharp beak aiming for her face. Only vorns of intensive training and battle sharpened skills had Arcee pulling back in time to save her head. The golden beak snapped shut just inches from her.

Scrambling away, she somehow managed to get one arm transformed into her blaster and got a shot off. It struck the beast just below it's head, on the front of it's thick neck. Shaking it's feathered head, the griffin snorted, pausing a moment before screeching and launching itself forward again.

"Fragging thick armor." Arcee snarled as she clamored to her feet, taking off down the slope away from the mine. Sliding and skidding down the rocky ground, she made it to more even footing and ran for cover. Behind her she heard the sweep of large wings as the Pred took to the air. She needed to get to the thicker trees below, removing the beast's aerial threat.

The griffin dropped out of the sky almost on top of her. As several tons of angry Predacon struck the ground, Arcee screamed. One of the beast's talons had caught her in the shoulder, slicing cleanly threw her armor. Somehow keeping her footing, she ran as pain sensors screamed and her HUD lite up with warnings. Ignoring them, she fought to keep moving. She had to put some distance between her and the Pred before mounting a counterattack... or getting the Pit out of there.

:Ratchet, come in. I've got a Predacon on my aft.:

The answering ping wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"What do you mean the line is busy!"

. . . . . . . . . .

A few minutes before...

"Ratchet!" gasping, Miko ran threw the side doors of the hanger, cellphone in hand.

"Miko, if you forgot to charge your battery again..."

"Bulkhead's being attacked!" Miko shouted, cutting off the angry medic.

"What?" Ratchet jolted before hurrying to the communication console, patching in to Bulkhead's signal, "Bulkhead, come in. What's your status?"

:Aaarg!:

"Bulkhead! Status!"

For several seconds the comm line was full of grunts and a harsh animalistic bellow before Bulkhead answered, :My status is that I'm getting tossed around by a pissed-off Pred!:

"Understood, can you fall back and wait for backup?"

More grunts filled the line followed by what sounded like a tree spilting in half, :Fragging Motherboard, did you just hit me with a tree?: A rather pained bellow sounded threw the speakers, :Yeah, that's what you get for using me as a baseball! Sorry Ratch, don't think I can get away but I'd love some back-up right about now.:

"I'm on it, just hang on." said Ratchet.

:Uuugh!: grunted Bulkhead, :Hanging on is about all I can do, Doc!"

. . . . . . . . . .

Bulkhead cried out in pain as he flew threw the air, crashing into several trees before landing hard on the unforgiving ground. Rolling to his feet, Bulkhead groaned, "Damn, and I thought wrestling Grimlock was rough."

Several yards away, the Predacon roared. It was a dark, muddy brown in color, with splashes of orange on some of it's plating. The beast was designed for maximum strength, with massive shoulders and thick arms. It's hands sported reinforced fingers, meant for crushing, as Bulkhead's left arm could attest to. He had some nasty dents in his plating that would take a lot of banging to get out. Not to mention the holes in his torso from the Pred's horns.

Yeah, as if titanic strength wasn't enough, the Pit fragging thing had a pair of long horns perfect for piercing Autobot armor.

Rolling his shoulders, Bulkhead growled, "Is that all you got, you big, ugly beast?"

The Predacon shook it's great head, snorting and pawing the ground with one of it's hoof-like peds.

Then, lowering it's head, the Minotaur charged.

. . . . . . . . . .

Meanwhile, elsewhere...

"What do you mean the line is busy!"

Gasping, Arcee nearly stumbled. Behind her, the griffin screeched. The denser trees might keep it out of the air, but that wasn't going to stop it. With long, lopping strides, the griffin came after Arcee. What little ground she had gained was being quickly eaten up. She ducked and weaved between trees, forcing the larger Pred to go around. Up ahead she spotted a drop-off. Too late to change directions, she ran towards it and jumped...

"FRAG!"

Spinning in mid-air, Arcee managed to snag the rock with her fingertips. What she had thought was a short drop was in fact a hundred foot cliff face. Hanging on for dear life, her injured shoulder screaming in agony, she could only watch as the griffin leap over the edge... and right past her.

With a shocked scream, the griffin plummeted to the ground. It to had misjudged the height and couldn't get it's wings open fast enough to stop it's fall. With a strut cracking crunch, the griffin hit the ground below. Hanging above, Arcee watched it get to it's feet, favoring it's left front leg.

Later, she would claim temporary insanity, but in that moment, an idea popped into her processor and she went with it. "Well, if it works with Seekers." Arcee kicked off from the cliff, letting go and falling onto the griffin's back. Wrapping her arms around it's thick neck, she grabbed handfuls of metallic feathers.

The griffin stood still, clearly shocked for a moment. Then with an indignant squawk, it reared up, thrashing it's head back and forth. It kicked out with it's hind legs, bucking high into the air, trying to toss it's impromptu rider. Arcee tried not to scream as she realized this was the stupidest thing she'd done in her life. What had possessed her to jump on the back of a Predacon?

The griffin suddenly stopped it's thrashing to turn it's large head towards her. Something in that bright red optic made Arcee's spark jump and her tank plummet, "Oh scrap."

The beast crouched down, back arching and wings spread. Turning it's head away and pointing it's beak towards the sky, the griffin kicked off from the ground and took to the air.

. . . . . . . . . .

Notes: WOW, that was a lot. Hope you like it cause I think that's the most writing I've done in a very long time. *flexes cramped fingers*

So, there you go. The second Predacon is revealed as a Minotaur. Why, you might ask. Because I wanted a bi-pedal Pred and something that would match up strength-wise to Bulkhead.

Dynobot Note: I went with the Prime name for Slag, which was changed to Slug.

Antex: at some point , yes, they will transform, but just as it took time for Predaking to discover he could transform, so to will it take time for my Preds to learn this as well. I see them as being like younglings, they know some of the things they can do, but have to learn others.


	9. Wild Ride

Disclaimer: Still same as first chapter.

. . . . . . . . .

Chapter 9 : Wild Ride

The pedsteps were slow, hesitant, as it approached. Stretching it's head out, the Predacon drew in several sniffs, turning it's head this way and that to get a better view.

What was it?

It didn't look like the creatures below, they all had the same face. This thing had a different face and strange colors. The One-Face things below were mostly purple and grey, this one was blue and yellow.

Carefully, it moved a little closer, it's long legs tense in case it needed to flee. Approaching from the side, it spotted what looked like little wings on the New-Face thing's back. Leaning forward, it sniffed the wing. It twitched.

Jerking back, body primed for running, it paused. New-Face didn't wake or move. Curious, it stretched forward again, snorting a gust of air on the tip of the doorwing. Again it twitched. Another snort, another twitch.

Hehe, this was fun!

The Predacon wondered what else would happen if it blew air on New-Face. Lifting it's head, it snorted against the neck. New-Face jerked it's head away and mumbled but didn't wake up. Then the Pred tried New-Face's shoulder. The arm twitched.

Pulling back, it kicked up it's heels in an almost dance. This was so much fun!

Moving around New-Face, the Predacon leaned in again, trying a blast of air on an ankle. The whole leg jerked up and out. Stepping up between New-Face's knees, it leaned in, blowing a gust of air against the gap just under the chestplate. New-Face's whole body shivered.

This was so cool!

Lifting it's head, it wondered what would happen if it blew air on it's plaything's face?

Bright blue optics stared in confusion and shock from New-Face's face. Lipplates moved but no sound came out. For a few moments, both Pred and no-longer-recharging plaything held still.

"Uh... hello."

. . . . . . . . . .

With a kick of it's powerful hind legs and a swift down stroke of it's wings, the griffin was airborne.

For the second time that day, Arcee was rendered speechless. With handfuls of metallic feathers and her legs clamped to smooth black flanks, she held on for dear life as the Predacon swiftly raised them both above the trees and into clear sky. She very much wanted to scream, to curse, but her vocalizer spat only static as the safety of solid ground fell away.

For something as large and heavy as the griffin, it ascended rapidly. It's golden wings rose and fell on both sides of her, seemingly effortless as they flashed in the sunlight. Then without warning, the wings changed their pitch, halting it's upward flight and instead seemed to hover.

Then it kicked.

Arcee screamed as the griffin did everything in it's power to throw her off. It's hind legs kicked out, hips twisted, back arched and shoulders shook. It tossed it's head back and forth, trying to dislodge her hands from it's neck. The Pred screeched in frustration as it shivered and shimmied before spinning in midair. Folding it's wings, it dropped several hundred feet before snapping them open and rising back up. With an angry squawk, it looked back over it's shoulder, glaring at the femme stubbornly clinging to it.

For her part, Arcee was trying not to purge all over the griffin's back. It was pissed off enough already, she didn't want to give it another reason to toss her. Her vents worked overtime to cool her stressed systems. Daring to look up from where she'd pressed her faceplates into it's neck, she meet a large, angry optic starring at her.

With a hiss, the griffin started again. Twisting and rolling, it spun in the air, doing it's best to toss it's rider. Dropping into another dive, it braked at the last second, just feet above the treetops. Flipping over, it tried to scrape Arcee off with the tips of several pine trees. Arcee yelped as the branches slapped at her head and back, snagging her winglets and catching in her armor.

Flipping right side up, the griffin powered it's way back up, gaining altitude for another round. Groaning, Arcee pressed her faceplates into the feathered neck, wondering how much longer she could hold on and how she was going to get out of this with her plating intact.

With a squawk, the griffin suddenly tucked it's wings and dropped. For a moment, Arcee thought this was a new tactic, until the missile screamed past, right where they had been seconds before. The roar of the wind had hidden the sound but the griffin had spotted it just in time. Looking over the beast's shoulder, Arcee cursed. Three Eradicon Seekers were closing fast.

"Slagging Cons." She hissed as several more missiles headed their way. "Dive!" Yanking on the feathers in her hands, Arcee screamed at the Predacon, "You can't out fly them. Dive!"

The griffin glanced over it's shoulder at her before looking back at the Seekers. With a harsh screech, it tucked it's wings and dove, just missing the incoming missiles. The forest was coming up fast below them as the Eradicons twisted around to follow them. Now closer, they opened fire with their blasters. Bright flashes of energy zipped past as the promised cover of the trees came at them. If they made it to the forest, the Cons would have to transform and come at them on foot.

Just feet from the protection of the thick forest, a laser shot caught the griffin's hip between two plates. With a squeal of pain, the Predacon lost control, spinning wildly into the trees. Arcee screamed as branches slapped at them both, trees splintering and shattering as they careened into them.

Her last sight was of the ground rushing towards them before everything went dark.

. . . . . . . . . .

Notes: Eeep... *dives for cover again* I know, I know I'm a naughty author for stopping there, but I can't help it. Sorry this one took so long. Real Life tackled me while I wasn't looking and had me in a headlock for several days setting me behind schedule. I am working on the next chapter and promise that another Predacon will be revealed in it.

Foxbear: Thanks, I haven't written battle/action scenes in a long time. Glad to know I'm not as rusty as I thought.

KHGiggle: I pictured the Dinobots as a combination of the Prime and G1. They have the Prime backgrounds but more of the G1 personalities only because I'm more familiar with them.

Fanatic97: My thought exactly! One of the first images that sprang to mind when I started this was of Arcee on the griffin's back. I was like "How do I make that happen?" Then it came to me... Jet Judo but on a Predacon... Predacon Judo!

The Anonymous Forgot my name: Arcee thought it was a good idea at the time.


	10. Awkward Introductions

Disclaimer: Still the same.

. . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 10: Awkward Introductions

"Uh... Hello."

With a high pitched squeal, the Predacon scrambled away. Smokescreen was too surprised to move as the beast backed up about 20 feet away. It tossed it's head and snorted, every cable in it's body tense.

"Hey, easy there!" Holding up his hands, Smokescreen tried to sound calm in the face of a startled and dangerous animal. Easing to his peds, he kept his movements slow, not wanting to set the Pred off. "It's OK, you startled me too."

The Predacon held itself still, watching his every movement. Smokescreen took in the beast before him and thought, "This is a Pred?" The Predacon was a bit taller then himself owing mainly to it's four long, thin legs. It was bright white, with light blue highlights along the edges of some of it's plating, mostly on it's hips, shoulders and down it's legs. It had the strangest tail he'd ever seen. It was made up of a cluster of blue cables that hung down almost to the ground and swayed back and forth. It sported more, shorter cables along it's neck. It's head was long and thin, with more blue highlights along it's cheekplates and a pair of big, rosy red optics.

It's only visible weapon was a six foot long horn in the middle of it's forehead.

Smokescreen almost scoffed at the beast. No claws, no fangs, not even a spiked tail to keep others away. This thing looked more like prey then predator. Feeling a bit more secure about facing this so called "Predacon", Smokescreen let his guard drop a little. "It's OK, I'm not gonna hurt you." The beast neighed at him, flexible adios flicking back before training on him again. Smokescreen kept his hands up, "See, it's all cool. We're friends here." He took a small step forward, testing the waters so to speak. The Pred snorted but didn't move. "You're not so bad, are you? Hard to believe a cute thing like you is a Predacon."

Rose colored optics narrowed.

The Predacon snorted, tossed it's head and pawed the rocky ground. Smokescreen got a sick feeling in his tank as he thought, "Scrap, I think I just insulted it."

The crackle of electrical charge filled the air. The blue cables along it's neck rose up, little arcs of electricity flowing between them. Before he could start backing away, the Unicorn lowered it's head, pointing it's horn at his chestplates and fired.

. . . . . . . . . .

:Ratchet to Wheeljack.:

:Wheeljack here, Doc.:

:What's your status?:

Wheeljack rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck cables, :Bored out of my processor.:

:Good. Fall back and I'll bridge you to Bulkhead's location. He needs backup:

Perking up, Wheeljack slid back away from the rock pile he'd been hiding behind. :What's he need backup for?:

:He's got his hands full with one of the Predacons.:

"All right, some action!" Wheeljack mumbled to himself as he moved farther away from his assigned mine. :I'm in the clear, Doc. Bridge me to him.:

:Acknowledged:

The green glowing portal appeared before him. Wheeljack nearly jogged into it. After several days of doing nothing, the prospect of kicking some Pred aft with his best friend almost made him feel giddy. What greeted him on the other side made him pause and whistle, "Damn."

The ground was torn up and several trees were splintered wrecks. No sign of Bulk or the Pred but they left a big trail of destruction to follow. Moving swiftly down the path left behind, Wheeljack heard a deep bellow not to far off, just before a loud crack filled the air. Looking up, he spotted what had to be a 50 foot tree falling straight towards him. Moving three steps to the right, he watched the tree land right where he'd been. With a chuckle, he kept moving, "Seems this Pred don't know how to be subtle. Good thing I don't either."

. . . . . . . . . .

Pain was the first thing Arcee became aware of.

The second was the thought, "Sweet Primus, this hurts!"

Her entire side was a massive ball of agony. She'd slammed sideways into the ground. Her hip armor was heavily dented, both her arm and thigh plateing was cracked and she'd lost all sensor data from one of her winglets. At this point it probably wasn't even attached to her back anymore.

Quickly clearing the error messages from her HUD, Arcee onlined her optics only to see double. Inwardly cursing, she rebooted them and the world became clear again.

The sight that greeted her was the flickering red optics of the Predacon griffin. It was splayed out on the ground next to her, head mear inches from her face. Moving carefully, Arcee tried sitting up only to hiss and sink back to the ground. "Slag it all!"

Beside her, the griffin moaned, limbs pulled tight to it's body and talons twitching. It's optics went dark for a moment before rebooting. It lay still, only blinking it's optic shutters a few times as it watched Arcee.

"Guess we're both destined for the scrap heap." Arcee gritted threw her denta. The griffin blinked, it's tail flicking up once. Rolling onto her back, careful of her remaining winglet, Arcee groaned. Above she could see the hole they had carved in the canopy of trees. Half of one tree had been sheared off and countless branches had been snapped in two, leaving a gap of blue sky behind. Sighing, she lifted her damaged leg and went through a range of motion test. Flexing ankle then knee and hip, she hissed as pain sensors blared warnings at her. Once done, she eased her leg back down and started on her injured arm.

The whole time, the griffin didn't move anything but it's optics. It followed each motion Arcee went through, quietly observing.

Laying her arm back down Arcee silently cursed. She had 85 percent mobility in her leg, not good but not bad either. She could at least get around on it for some time before needing repairs, but she wouldn't be running anytime soon. Her arm was down to 67 percent mobility. Just above the threshold for functioning and a liability if she needed to fight. As far as she could tell, the loss of her winglet had damaged some of the underlying cables that ran to her arm. The wound the griffin had given her earlier had also cut a few lines to the same arm.

All in all, she needed Ratchet and soon.

:Arcee to Ratchet, come in:

The same busy ping answered her. "Scrap, Miko better not be ordering pizza with the Comm again." Arcee snarled. With a slowness born of pain, she forced herself to sit up. The griffin continued to watch as she eased herself to her feet. Wobbling for a moment, she grabbed the closest tree while her gyros compensated for the change in position.

A movement brought her attention back to the Predacon. For a moment she thought the worst, that the beast was going to attack. It had stretched out one of it's forelegs, first flexing it's claws, then it's wrist and elbow. When it started with it's other foreleg, Arcee realized what it was doing. It was using the range of motion test she herself had just used. The damn thing had watched her and was now testing it's limbs for damage.

After stretching and flexing it's back legs, the griffin hissed as it rolled onto it's belly. Lifting one wing, it ran threw a motion test on it was well. Folding it against it's side, it tried to move it's other wing but hissed in pain. The other wing hung oddly, twitching against the ground.

"Looks like you got it worse them me. Hard to believe with the way I feel." Arcee groaned. The griffin tried to get to it's feet but managed only a few inches before moaning and dropping back to the ground. With what Arcee thought was a look of dejection on it's face, the griffin set the tip of it's beak on the ground and sighed.

Moving stiffly, Arcee stepped around the beast to stand in front of it. Crouching down, while wondering if she'd be able to get back up again, Arcee looked the Predacon in the optics. "Alright, listen up." The griffin lifted it's head and stared at her, "I know you're not dumb like some believe. I know you're smart and I bet you can understand every word I say. If I'm right and you do understand, touch you're beak to your left leg."

For a long moment, the griffin just stared before lowering it's head and tapping it's leg foreleg.

"Good." Arcee nodded, "I'm going to be blunt and honest with you. Those Seekers that shot us down will come after us. They want to kill me and they will either kill or capture you." The Pred looked deep into Arcee's optics, seemingly looking for something before tapping it's leg again. "OK. We can't stay here. So we have two choices, go our separate ways or... stay together. If we separate, the Cons might follow only one of us or split up. If we stick together they'll all follow us but we have a better shot at taking them out. I leave it up to you. Left leg, we part ways. Right leg, we stick together."

The griffin blinked slowly, head cocking to the side. It looked to the ground, looked back at Arcee and back to the ground again. It shifted a bit, wincing at the flare of pain in it's wing-joint. Looking back up at Arcee, it lowered it's head... touching it's right leg.

"Alright." Arcee nodded, just a bit relieved to not be alone and wondering why that was, "Let's get you on your feet and get moving."

. . . . . . . . . .

Meanwhile back as base...

"Uh, Ratchet?"

"Not now, Raf. I've got a situation going on here." groused the Medic.

"I've got a situation going on over here too and you need to look at this!"

Something in the boy's voice made Ratchet pause. Stepping away from the Comm station, he moved towards Raf, "What is it?"

"Remember when you made that comment about one of the Predacons sleeping on the White House lawn?" said Raf with what could only be described as an "Oh Shit!" look on his face.

Ratchet nodded, "Yes."

"You weren't far off." With a few keystrokes, he transferred the live news feed to the main screen.

Ratchet's optics nearly bugged out of his faceplates, "Oh Scrap!"

. . . . . . . . . .

Notes: Yes, I did it again. *hides behind Bumblebee hoping his cuteness will stop her attackers* And to let everyone know, even if I don't mention you by name in my notes, know that I really appreciate your reviews. *hugs*

To those out there going, "How can a Unicorn be a Predacon? Unicorns aren't predators!" Here's my line of thought when creating this Pred. What better why to lure in prey then to look and act like prey yourself. Another Pred comes along, sees the Unicorn, thinks "That looks easy to catch." and ZAP! They learn the hard way, just like Smokescreen, that there is more to a Predacon Unicorn then meets the eye.

The Prime Writer: Sorry if I didn't make it clearer in the last chapter. The Predacon Unicorn calls the Eradacons One-Face because they all have the same faceplate design. So, they share one face between them all. When it finds Smokescreen, it notices that he has a different face design from the only other Transformers it's met so far. Thus it dubs him New-Face. But fear not, your idea of a multi-faced Pred is not too far off. Just not this one... and I will say no more. Don't want to ruin the surprise.

To all those who thought Smokescreen was making a friend... well, he almost did. But like so many men/mechs before him, he went and put his foot/ped in his mouth. Poor Smokey. Maybe the unicorn will forgive him... or maybe not. *evil smile*


	11. Shiny

Disclaimer: Same old same old!

Early Note: I've taken some liberties with a historical object in this chapter. More info to follow at the end of the chapter.

. . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 11: Shiny!

"Report!"

Stalking onto the bridge of the Nemesis, Megatron's sharp order had all jerking to attention. Starscream moved swiftly to the main console, bringing up a map of energon mines along the eastern coast of North America. "Lord Megatron, we have several reports of disturbances at some of the mines near R-34." A few taps and three mines were highlighted. "Mine V-42 has reported hearing what appears to be a rather loud battle nearby. It's described as sounding like something is, and I quote, tearing apart the mountains. I've dispatched a scout team to investigate."

Starscream gestured to another bright dot on the screen, "Sensors near Mine C-17 registered an unusual electrical discharge nearby. Since all of our scans of the weather in that area have shown no volatile storms, a team has been sent to evaluate the disturbance. And finally..." Starscream relished this, saving the best for last, "A patrol near Mine H-21 spotted an unknown flier and engaged it. They sent this image capture."

Up on the main screen appeared the image. Caught in mid-flap, the griffin Predacon seemed the hover, beak open in a silent screech and there, peeking around it's neck was a familiar blue femme.

"Interesting." Megatron rumbled, "It appears that at least one of the Autobots has made contact."

"Indeed." Starscream nearly crowed, "I can't help but feel this visual aid will farther convince Predaking of the Autobot's "controlling" his precious Predacons."

"Yes, helpful indeed." Megatron growled, "What of this beast?"

"Shot down, my Lord. The patrol's last report was that they were attempting a visual confirmation of it's offlining."

At some unknown signal, Megatron turned to his Communications Officer, "What is it Soundwave?"

It never failed to creep Starscream out that Megatron always seemed to know when Soundwave wanted his attention, with no sounds or commlink transmissions.

Soundwave moved closer, wirelessly linking a live news feed to the main monitor. Turning his face to the screen, Megatron watched for a moment before his optics widened in surprise, "Starscream... summon Predaking to the bridge. I believe his highness will be most interested in this."

Starscream, mouth open in shock, could only nod while watching the human news broadcast.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Oh Scrap."

Jack and Miko stood next to Raf, in awed silence as somewhere behind them, Agent Fowler ran into the room, a torrent of vulgarity flowing from his lips and his cellphone ringing wildly in his hand.

"Ratchet..." Raf's voice was very small and quiet.

"Slag it all, I'm too old for this!" snarled Ratchet as he ran to the Comm station, "Optimus, this is Ratchet, come in!'

Ignoring the grousing medic and cursing agent, Miko leaned towards Raf, "Please tell me you're recording this."

Raf could only nod, eyes glued to the footage splashed across the screen.

Jack found his voice, "I think the Bot's cover is pretty well blown now."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Are we live?"

"Yeah, go!"

Microphone in hand, a young reporter staggered into view, her clothing askew from running several blocks, "This is Andrea Johnson, coming to you live from Washington DC where just about fifteen minutes ago something landed on the Capital Building dome. Ben, get this shot."

The camera spun around to focus on the seat of Congressional power. "The creature appeared out of no where. It landed on the dome and hasn't moved from it."

Wrapped around the building's famous dome, the Predacon's large talons gouged into the stone, keeping it in place. It's massive wings were half open, twitching back and forth to help it maintain balance. It was mostly bright silver with sections of pearly white along it's sides and the underside of it's wings. It's massive head sported two short horns pointed back away from it's face. It's long tail looped around the dome's base while it's equally long neck was twisted around to keep the object that had caught it's optic in sight.

It was completely entranced by the shiny. It was so very pretty and sparkly. It hadn't meant to land in the city but while flying over the glow from this golden object had drawn the Predacon in like a moth to a flame. It had to have it!

The massive dragon Predacon, heedless of the masses of panicked humans below, purred as it rubbed it's cheekplates against the Statue of Freedom perched atop the Capital dome.

Shiny! Pretty, pretty shiny!

The dragon leaned away from the statue to admire it again. The almost 20 foot figure of a woman, draped in fabric with a sheathed sword in one hand and a shield in the other glittered brightly in the sunlight. For 150 years, the colossal statue had graced the top of the dome, facing east towards the rising sun.

Not that the Predacon cared. All it saw was a pretty trinket that it had to have. Bending down, it inspected the statue's base, trying to figure out how to separate the shiny without damaging it.

Ping.

Snorting, the dragon paused. Something had just bounced off it's hip.

Ping, ping.

Curious, the beast turned around. What was hitting it? Down below, some of the little squishy creatures were pointing metal sticks at it. More tiny objects bounced off it's side and legs. Snorting, the Predacon shrugged off the insects. It was too busy to play with such pathetic organisms.

Ouch!

With a grunt, the Pred looked at it's wing. That stung! The tiny squishies had grazed the underside of it's wing membrane. It was just a scratch but still, that hurt.

Fine, if the little beasts wanted it's attention, they got it.

. . . . . . . . . .

Optimus had just jogged threw the groungbridge when Agent Fowler shouted into his cellphone, "Cease fire, cease fire, damn it. Get someone on scene to stop them!"

"What the Pit are they thinking?" gasped Ratchet.

"That it's OK to shot at a giant metal dragon, apparently." said Miko, watching intently as the Predacon snarled at the police officers below.

"Ratchet, situation report." Optimus's deep rumble made Ratchet startle, having already forgotten that his Prime was returning. The disaster on the screen was just that compelling.

"The situation is that the Pit has come to Earth. Bulkhead is engaged in battle with one Predacon, I just sent Wheeljack to back him up and another Predacon is running loose in Washington. " The Comm station flared to life, drawing Ratchet's attention, "And now I've got an emergency call from Smokescreen! What the slag?"

As Ratchet moved to take the call from Smokescreen, Jack hollered, "Guys, look!"

On the screen, the dragon had pulled it's head back and puffed out it's chest. The pearly white of it's chestplates glowed a bright red-orange from within. "That's not good." gasped Raf just before the Pred snapped it's head forward and opened it's massive jaws. A stream of red flames shot forth towards the ground. People ran in all directions as the flames caught a patrol car. The vehicle disappeared into the fireball for a moment before it's fuel tank ruptured. Pieces of cop car sailed threw the air in all directions as it exploded.

Silence hung over the Autobot base for a moment before... "What do you mean you need back-up?"

Everyone jolted and turned towards the gobsmacked medic. Hanging onto the console as if it was the only thing holding him up, Ratchet gasped, "What do you mean you've got a Predacon shooting lightning at you?" Slumping over, Ratchet rubbed his face with a tired hand, "Alright, hang on." Shutting down the link, Ratchet turned away, "Optimus."

Doing what he did best, Optimus stepped in to take command of the situation, "Ratchet, contact Bumblebee. Have him rendezvous with Smokescreen. Agent Fowler, we need that scene cleared."

"I'm on it." Fowler said before barking orders into his cell. "I need the area cleared. All civilians, press and police. Military only and have them pull back to form a perimeter."

"As soon as the scene is secured, I'm going in." Optimus said as on the screen the dragon turned away from the carnage below to continue admiring the golden statue.

"Optimus, I've just bridged Bumblebee to Smokescreen's position." Ratchet called out.

"Prime, I've got you a one mile perimeter around the Capital Building." shouted Fowler.

"Good. Ratchet, contact Ultra Magnus and Arcee.." Optimus rumbled as he strode towards the groundbridge the medic had just opened for him. "I may require back-up."

. . . . . . . . . .

Note: Yikes, things are getting exciting! And now we have the fourth Predacon, a dragon. I felt I needed one cause who other then another dragon could stand up to Predaking. The last Pred will be revealed in the next chapter. As most of you realized, it is a type of serpent, but no one yet as figured out what mythological one it is. Also, the reporter is totally made up, I know no one by that name and if it belongs to someone any of you know, it's a coincidence.

Historical Note: The Statue of Freedom is real and does indeed sit atop the Capital building in Washington. It is as I described it except that it's bronze in color. Since bronze isn't nearly shiny enough to attract the attention of my Pred dragon I used a bit of artistic license to change it's color to gold.

To everyone, thanks for the positive feedback about my choice of a unicorn Pred, or as The Prime Writer called it, Preda-Corn. Ha, love that term.


	12. Oops

Disclaimer: Still the same.

Reminder...

:blah: is comm speech

[blah] is Bee speech

"_blah_" is thoughts

. . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 12: Oops

Lowering it's head, the unicorn fired.

A bolt of electricity shot forth from the tip of it's horn. Smokescreen didn't have time to run or duck, but he did have time to fall. Jerking away when the Unicorn Pred had started to aim, Smokscreen lost traction and fell backwards. The energy flashed past his head and struck the tree several feet behind him. With a loud crack, the tree exploded, showering Smokescreen with bark and slivers of wood.

Stunned, Smokey lay there on his back for a moment, just long enough for the unicorn to attack again. With an angry shriek, the Pred reared up, large cloven hooves aiming for the Autobot's head. Running on instinct alone, Smokescreen rolled away just before the pale blue hoof slammed into the ground where his face had been.

"Scrap!" He gasped as he was forced to roll again as the unicorn stomped the ground with it's forelegs, determined to crush his head for insulting it. It was like some ridiculous game; first roll one way, then the other and try not to get stomped to death.

Thank Primus no one else was there to see this. Smokescreen knew he'd never live this down if the other Autobots saw him rolling around in the dirt. Managing to get enough distance between him and the pissed off Pred, Smokescreen got to his feet.

Only to face the beast head on.

"Ahhh!" He screamed as the unicorn sank it's teeth into his arm. And what teeth they were, "Wha... what the Pit? Are you part Sharkticon?"

The unicorn didn't sport normal, short, peg-like teeth used by herbivores to chop and grind plants. No, this beast had a mouth full of sharp, serrated knives that sliced into Smokey's armor plating like tin foil. It shook it's head back and forth, farther slicing through the metal and into wires below. Smokescreen did the only thing he could think of. He hauled back and punched the unicorn in the cheekplate.

With a pained squeal it let go, some of Smokescreen's energon dripping from it's chin. Taking the opportunity, Smokescreen beat a hasty retreat.

:Smokescreen to base. Ratchet, come in!:

It took several agonizing seconds before.. :Ratchet here, what do you want Smokescreen? We have a big problem on our hands here:

A bolt of energy struck the tree right next to him, exploding and showering Smokescreen with more splinters. He was sure he'd be picking wood out from under his plating for days, :I have a pretty big problem too, Ratchet. I could really use some back up.:

:What do you mean you need back up?:

Behind him, the enraged whinny of the unicorn signaled the Pred wasn't far behind, :Well, I'm being chased by a Predacon that's shooting lightning at me!:

:What do you mean you've got a Predacon shooting lightning at you?:

:Just that, this Chaos Bringer Spawn is trying to fry me!: Stumbling over some loose rocks, Smokescreen flailed his arms trying not to fall of his aft.

:Alright, hang on.: The line went dead.

Arms pinwheeling, Smokescreen grabbed onto something with his good arm.

ZAP!

Yelping, Smokescreen realized what he had grabbed hold of. The Primus Damned beast's horn!

Still wobbling on his peds and with a Pred in hand, Smokescreen let go and backed away... right over the side of a small cliff. And small it was, luckily for him. Only a few feet high, he landed with a splash into the small stream that had cut into the ground to form the cliff.

Stunned, he lay there, head on one side of the waterway, peds on the other and cold mountain water flowing into his backplates. "Scrap!" he yelped, back arching in a futile attempt to stop the icy liquid from drenching more of his internals.

Above him, on the stream's bank, stood the unicorn.

. . . . . . . . . .

Bumblebee jogged quickly over the rough terrain towards Smokescreen's signal. He'd been minding his own business, watching his assigned mine when Ratchet had barked at him.

:Bumblebee, I'm sending a groundbridge. Help Smokescreen before the Pred he's fighting fries his aft.:

And the line went dead. Ratchet wasn't one for pleasantries, but that had been down right rude. Shaking his head Bee moved swiftly towards the moving signal. [Slag it, he's moving away] beeped Bumblebee, picking up the pace to catch up. Rounding a mossy rock pile, the scout ran into them.

Literally.

Not the pair he was tailing, but a trio of Eradacons.

Slamming hard into the back of one, the two of them tumbled to the ground. Bee couldn't believe he'd done that. He'd been so intent on tracking Smokey he'd hadn't noticed the Decepticon signals on his HUD. Fortunately, they hadn't noticed him coming up behind them either.

Landing on top of the stunned Eradacon, Bumblebee laid there a moment. The other two Cons were just as stunned and for a long few seconds, no one moved.

Snapping out of it, the Eradacons raised their blasters. Thinking quickly, Bee rolled away from the two Cons, pulling their downed comrade with him. Their first shots hit the Con-turned-shield, piercing his chestplates, before they realized what they'd done. When they paused Bee took his chance. His first shot caught one Con in the neck, blowing a hole threw it and offlining him quickly. The other proved harder to stop, as he opened fire again. It took several shots before Bee caught him in the shoulder, disabling his blaster arm. Another shot to the chest and the Eradacon was down.

Pushing away his offlined shield, Bumblebee climbed to his peds. [Scrap] moaned Bee. He'd bet anything these Cons weren't out here just for the fun of it. They were tracking the Pred and now more Cons would be sent out when these ones didn't report in.

Checking his scanner, Bumblebee found Smokescreen's signal had finally stopped moving. That was either a good thing or a bad thing.

As Bee resumed his fast jog, he had a feeling it was a bad thing.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Oooof!" grunted Bulkhead as he caught the boulder thrown at him. The weight of the rock made him slide backwards several feet.

Some distance away, the minotaur bellowed, holding it's arms out is such a way as to say "Bring it on!"

Groaning, Bulkhead didn't know how much more he could take. He was dented, scratched and punctured in several places. He had taken a shot to the head and his processor was still ringing. Frustrated, Bulkhead growled, "Stop throwing things at me!" before tossing the boulder back at the Pred.

Surprised by this new tactic, the minotaur did the only thing it could. It caught the boulder. Sliding back several feet, it bellowed in shock when it backed into a tree. The old pine, having been damaged earlier during their fight, gave in to gravity and fell with a crash.

Standing there for a moment, the Pred looked at the boulder in it's hands before tossing it back at Bulkhead. With a snarl, Bulkhead caught it and promptly tossed it back, "Cut it out!"

Catching the boulder, the minotaur stared at it before making a hiccuping sound. Bulkhead wondered what it was doing. The Pred's whole body seemed to shake, it's red optics closed and it kept making that sound. Then it threw it's head back and the sound got louder. It jumped in the air once then stomped it's hooves on the ground. With a jolt, Bulkhead realized what was happening.

It was laughing!

Opening it's optics, the minotaur threw the boulder back at Bulkhead. The Wrecker almost didn't catch it, so shocked was he. Standing there, jaw hanging open, he watched as the Pred made a motion with it's arms as if to say, "Come on, throw it!"

Not knowing what else to do, Bulkhead tossed it back. Catching it, the Pred made that same hiccup-laugh sound again and threw it back to Bulkhead. Tossing it back yet again, Bulkhead couldn't believe this was happening. He was playing with a Predacon. Readying himself for the next catch, he was shocked to hear a familiar voice.

"You know, I thought I was coming to save your aft, not watch you teach a Pred to Lob!"

. . . . . . . . . .

"Let's get you on your feet and moving."

"_Easier said then done._" the griffin thought. One wing was hanging limply, pain signals swamping it's processor. It's back leg was throbbing and trickling energon. There was something very wrong with it's front leg. Though it looked fine on the outside, inside something was definitely broken.

The strange blue femme got up from her crouch slowly. She seemed to be in a lot of pain as well. Moving stiffly, she walked around to the griffin's left side, laying her hands on it's shoulder. The griffin hissed.

WACK!

"_Did...did she just hit me_?" The griffin was stunned, less by the smack to it's beak and more by the audacity of it.

"Don't you hiss at me! I'm trying to help you." Laying her hand on it's shoulder again, the griffin held it's tongue but could not stop the momentary shiver of it's plating. From it's earliest memories, touch was a bad thing. Thought the memories were fuzzy and corrupted, it still remembered being pulled from the warm, wet comfort and laid on the cold, hard surface. It still felt long, sharp fingers probing it's armor, it's internals. A bright light shining in it's underdeveloped optics and sharp things stabbing into it's fuel lines.

It wasn't until after their escape that touch started to be something good. Being touched by it's kin meant safety. Touches reassured each other that they were undamaged, that they were going to be OK.

The femme held still, waiting for the tremors to stop. Once they did, she moved slowly, crouching next to the griffin and running her hands down the feathered plating. From shoulder to elbow, where the feathers stopped, she paused, "Alright, I'm going to help you up. Try not to use this leg, I can tell it's worse off then your back leg."

The griffin tapped it's beak on it's injured left leg, "_OK._"

"When I say go, stand up. I'll support this side." Reaching around the foreleg, she grasped her injured arm with her good hand. Supporting it's "armpit", the femme tensed her legs, "Ready, set, GO!"

With a deep groan, the griffin pushed up. It's two good legs and one wobbly leg forced themselves to move. The femme groaned as well, her own legs straining to left herself and the Predacon's greater weight. After several long seconds, the griffin found it's footing.

Slowly letting go, the femme kept her hands on the griffin, ready to help if it started to collapse. Moving with great care, the griffin lowered it's bad leg, letting it rest lightly on the ground. With a yelp, it pulled it's leg back up. "_Definitely broken_." it thought as it tucked the injured leg into it's body.

The blue femme was still touching it, but had moved to the injured wingjoint just behind it's shoulderblade. Her touch was careful and soft as she inspected the damage. "Looks like it's dislocated. Should be an easy fix but we need to get moving now. We've stayed here too long. Can you walk?"

The Pred grunted before moving forward. It was ungainly at best, undignified at worst. It had to hop with it's front leg and shuffle with it's back. Each movement jostled it's wing but it powered through. Stopping, the griffin looked back over it's shoulder at the femme. It jerked it's head to say "Come on." and started moving again.

The femme fell in behind it and together the odd pair moved on.

. . . . . . . . . .

:Ratchet to Ultra Magnus.:

:Magnus here.:

:We have a situation. One of the Predacons has been spotted in a major city. Optimus is at the scene but he may require back up. I'm sending a groundbridge for you.:

:Negative Ratchet, I won't be able to help:

:Why not?:

:I'm a bit... tied up at the moment.:

Laid out on the ground, Ultra Magnus looked up at the very angry Predacon he had in hand. The massive serpent was hissing and spitting at him but could do nothing. Magnus' clawed hand had a tight grip on the beast, just below it's jaw. The snake had it's long, dark green and acid yellow body coiled around his legs. Every few minutes it would try to tighten it's coils only for Ultra Magnus to tighten his grip on it's throat. The snake would loosen it's body and Magnus would loosen his grip just enough not to crush it's neck.

It was a standoff with neither one willing to give in. Magnus silently cursed that he could have ended this if he had the use of his other arm.

Unfortunately, it was otherwise occupied... by the Preds other head.

Magnus had been stationed in a heavily wooded area near a mine. The thick underbrush had helped to hide him from the Decepticons but had also allowed the Predacon to sneak up on him. At first, he had thought he was fighting two Preds, the beast's body hidden in the brush with only it's heads snapping at him. Only after retreating to an clearing had the beast shown it's full size.

When the smaller of the two heads had disappeared back into the foliage, the Autobot Commander had thought the beasts were splitting up to flank him. Instead the larger head had slithered forward on a body easily one and a half times as long as he was high. Once it's tail cleared the underbrush, Magnus had realized that the other head was it's tail. The bizarre two headed beast had attacked him, leading to his current predicament. Flat on his back, wrapped up in thick coils of serpent body and with his hands full of twin heads.

The smaller of the two, the tail-head as he called it, was by far the more dangerous. While the large main head sported a mouth full of curved teeth, the smaller one had two retractable fangs that dripped acid. As the smoking hole in his shoulder guard could attest too. He'd managed to grab the tail-head's snout, keeping it's mouth shut and the acid away from his armor. While the main head hissed and spat at him, the tail-head just gave him a glare that promised bloody vengeance.

:What do you mean your tied up?:

Ratchet's growl brought Magnus out of his musing. Huffing through his vents, he grunted, :Just that. I find myself unable to.. untangle... myself from the Predacon I've encountered. If at all possible, I would greatly appreciate some back up myself.:

Ratchet's cursing filled the Comm line. From the few words he could make out from the tantrum the medic was throwing, Magnus got the feeling he'd be waiting awhile for that help.

Sighing through his vents, Ultra Magnus settled in to wait, with the Amphisbaena hissing above him.

. . . . . . . . . .

Note: And there you have it, my last Predacon. Most of you are probably going, "What the heck is that?" The Amphisbaena was a snake with a head at each end of it's body and, as legend has it, was born of the blood of Medusa when it dripped on the sands of Lybia's desert. You can check it out on Wikipedia. I've gone with the classic type of Amphisbaena, the snake with two heads, as opposed to the Medieval version, that looked more like a dragon with a head for a tail.

I have to say, there were a lot of good guesses as to what this Pred was. Should I ever expand my group of Preds (before you get your hopes up, that would be a LONG time from now), I just might use some of your ideas.

Note 2: Don't worry, next chapter will return to Optimus and the Dragon.


End file.
